3:8
The “trustworthy saying” seems to refer back to what has just been said. So often people do not understand the nature of the gospel. It is about much more than forgiveness, and certainly more than forgiveness in the sense of being “let off”. It is far deeper than that. It is about who we are meant to be, it is about our true identity, which we only find in Christ. And Christ being Lord of our lives is absolutely central to that. While we are saved purely by grace, this does not mean that we are passive. Paul here talks about devoting ourselves to doing what is good. “These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
3:9
So Titus is to make sure that the people receive sound teaching. However, in our desire to teach the truth there is always a danger that we will get sidetracked into “foolish controversies”, Far from being “excellent and profitable”, these things are “unprofitable and useless”. We do need to be careful, for the attraction of foolish arguments is that they tempt us into thinking that we are clever!
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